Born in southern China, John Woo grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career as an assistant director in 1969, working for Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed his first feature in 1973 and has been a prolific director ever since, working in a wide variety of genres before Ying hung boon sik (aka "A Better Tomorrow") established his reputation as a master stylist specializing in ultra-violent gangster films and thrillers, with hugely elaborate action scenes shot with breathtaking panache. After gaining a cult reputation in the US with The Killer (aka "The Killer"), Woo was offered a Hollywood contract. He plans to stay working in the US.


Trademark: Birds: Many Woo films include slow-motion sequences of birds (usually doves) Woo's many American admirers include the likes of Martin Scorsese, Sam Raimi (who compared his mastery of action to Alfred Hitchcock's mastery of suspense) and Quentin Tarantino (who, replying to a studio executive saying "I suppose Woo can direct action scenes" said "Sure, and Michelangelo can paint ceilings!"). When trying to convince Universal to get him to direct Hard Target (1993), Jean-Claude Van Damme championed Woo as "the Martin Scorsese of Asia". Two of his films are listed in the Hong Kong Film Awards' List of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures on March 2005. They are Dip huet seung hung (1989) and Ying hung boon sik (1986) (ranking 42 and 2, respectively). He uses doves as a symbolic device. They represent the character's soul as being saved. Is production partners with Terence Chang.